Barret spoke heavily, his voice hoarse.
“Mage Lord… did you feel it too?”
The old generation of adventurers call this omen ‘Forest’s Wrath.’
Ella continued, her face more solemn than ever, the scholar’s unique intellectual aura shrouded by a layer of gloom.
Barret nodded, bitterness filling his mouth.
“That’s right. Forest’s Wrath. It’s not that the forest has its own anger, but rather… some ancient power deep within the forest has awakened, or perhaps… lost control.”
He looked towards the depths of the forest, deep dread in his eyes.
“Once Forest’s Wrath descends, all the monsters become unusually violent, like the Fungus-armored Bear just now. Even plants that are usually harmless turn into deadly hunters.”
“The last time this happened was fifty years ago. They say that time, all the expedition teams that entered the Watcher’s Forest became nourishment for the forest, not a single one survived.”
Ella took out a roll of parchment Map from her pouch, pointing to a circled area at the center.
“Our intelligence from the Silver Moon Trading Company confirms this. Moreover, the energy fluctuation signs of Forest’s Wrath this time are more intense than any recorded in history. I led this Investigation Team deep here on orders to collect Mutated Samples and, if possible, investigate the source of the energy outbreak.”
She looked up, her intelligent eyes meeting Lin En’s.
“We suspect the source might be an activated Ancient Magic Relic, or… a Temple that’s been dormant for centuries.”
“Temple? Could it be the Hall of Life?”
Lin En listened quietly, his super brain processing the information at lightning speed.
‘Ancient power out of control,’ ‘violent energy fluctuation,’ ‘ancient temple’…
These words intertwined in his mind, pointing to a clear inference: all these anomalies might be related to his ultimate goal— the Hall of Life.
As Lin En finished evaluating, Barret, after struggling for a long time, finally made up his mind.
He dragged his battered body in front of Lin En, then knelt heavily on one knee.
“Mage Lord! There are severely wounded in my team, we can’t fight any longer. I beg you to escort us. As payment, all materials from these three Fungus-armored Bears, and my personally treasured Map of forbidden zones deep within the forest, will be offered to you!”
Before he finished speaking, Ella stepped forward.
Her proposal was even more direct—and more tempting.
“Master Lin En,” she said solemnly, “your power exceeds my understanding, but your knowledge of this forest may not be as deep as that of the Silver Moon Trading Company. We possess the most precise Mutated Energy Fluctuation Maps and detailed Maps leading to the forest’s interior. We can cooperate.”
Her eyes gleamed with fervor.
“We provide intelligence and guides; you provide security. I believe the place you seek is the same as our target—the source. Our goals are perfectly aligned.”
It was an offer impossible to refuse.
“Agreed.”
Lin En spoke two words.
“But with conditions,” his voice was icy and clear.
“I will only eliminate deadly threats on the road. Your people must keep up on their own. My destination is the forest’s deepest point. If you withdraw halfway, the agreement ends automatically.”
“No problem!”
Ella and Barret replied in unison.
Thus, a temporary alliance was quickly formed on the blood-scented forest clearing.
Under Ella and Barret’s guidance, the hastily assembled team carefully advanced into the forest’s depths.
A suffocating atmosphere lingered over them, twisted trees and eerie silence stretching everyone’s nerves to the breaking point.
After several days trekking through the oppressive woods, the entire group was exhausted.
Twisted trees blocked out the sun, the air was thick with the stench of decaying leaves, and the ground beneath their feet was endlessly wet and muddy.
Everyone’s nerves were taut like drawn bowstrings, ever wary of threats lurking in the shadows.
Just as patience and strength were about to reach their limits, the view ahead suddenly opened.
A small but exceptionally clear lake, like an uncut sapphire, appeared before them.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees, scattering across the lake and reflecting mesmerizing, dazzling ripples.
Fresh mist washed away days of gloom and fatigue.
This sudden beauty shattered the tension within the team.
“Praise the Water God! A lake! Clean water!”
A Mercenary cried out in relief, his voice even choked.
Barret, ever cautious, circled the shore first, confirming there were no large monsters. Only then did he sigh in relief and wave his hand.
“Rest here! Set up camp! Tonight, we rest well!”
“Oh ho—”
The Mercenaries erupted in thunderous cheers, all fatigue and oppression from the journey swept away.
They rushed to the lakeshore, plunging their heads into the cool water, then greedily filled their leather canteens.
Soon, several bonfires rose by the lakeside.
Mercenaries sat together, pulling out hard bread and dried meat, chomping down with clear lake water.
A few quick-handed ones even skewered fat fish with sharpened branches, roasting them over the fire. The fish sizzled, fat dripping into the flames, sending up aromas that made everyone’s mouth water.
“Hey, Hart! Is your fish done yet? I’m starving!”
“Hold on! Just wait a bit, I’ll sprinkle some Secret Spice we brought from Blackstone City, and you’ll swallow your tongue!”
“Hahaha, when this mission is over, I’m going to the Drunken Gryphon Inn and drink for three days and nights!”
“Count me in!”
Laughter echoed around the lake, guards relaxed, cleaning weapons and chatting about hometown stories.
The tense atmosphere of the past days finally eased, as if they were not in a monster-infested forest but on a leisurely outing.
Only two people remained outside this joy.
Ella took out a delicate Analysis Crystal Bottle, carefully collecting a sample of lake water.
She frowned.
The life energy in the water was abnormally rich, yet terrifyingly dead. This strong sense of discord sent a chill into her bones.
Lin En, on the other hand, had not relaxed for a moment.
He stood atop a high rock, coldly overlooking the lively lakeside, as if everything was irrelevant to him.
The sunset painted a golden sky. All enjoyed this rare peace.
But just as the team finished dinner and prepared for a quiet night, a deep, unsettling hum echoed from far within the forest.
At first, it was faint, hidden beneath the crackle of bonfires and laughter.
But it quickly grew sharper, denser, and expanded at a terrifying pace!
“What’s that sound?”
A Mercenary stopped laughing, puzzled.
On the horizon, a mass of ‘black cloud’ was rising over the land.
But it was not a cloud!
A dark swarm, blotting out the sun, was rushing straight toward them!
Within seconds, the hum became a deafening roar. Even the ground trembled!
“Alert! Everyone, on alert!”
Barret’s face went pale, shouting at the top of his lungs.
But when he saw what the ‘cloud’ truly was, his shout was cut off.
It was a terrifying army of locusts, each the size of a fist, their bodies covered in dark golden armor!
“No… impossible!”
An old Mercenary, recognizing the shape, watched the grilled fish in his hands drop into the fire, all color draining from his face.
“It’s the Golden Armored Devouring Locust!”
The name froze all laughter by the lake. In its place, deathly silence—then panic erupted.
“Golden Armored Devouring Locust? The disaster that devoured the Bloodblade Mercenary Corps?!”
A young Mercenary trembled, his voice breaking.
‘Bloodblade’—a renowned elite team among Mercenaries!
Their leader was a genuine mid-tier Silver Mage, with a mid-tier Mage capable of Seven-ring Spells!
Three years ago, they accidentally entered a magic locust nest and were annihilated before they could even send a distress signal. No corpses left!
Barret’s lips quivered. He wanted to command calm, but his voice shook.
“Heavens! Run!”
But it was already too late.
Ella’s voice sounded cold, crushing any last hope.
Her face was white as paper, tightly clutching the Analysis Crystal Bottle, her eyes filled with terror and despair.
“Seventy years ago, the Empire deployed an entire Army Mage battalion and used a massive [Heavenly Fire Judgement] joint Magic formation, paying a horrendous price just to barely purify that region…”
She looked up, despair in her gaze at the encroaching death.
“And now… we’ve walked into their nest! This lake… it’s their breeding ground!”
“It’s over…”
But as the crowd drowned in fear, Lin En’s invisible spiritual power swept out like a vast spiderweb, crossing great distance to envelop the rising black disaster.
In his mental vision, beneath every locust’s shell and inside their fluids, countless dormant spores lurked—too small for the naked eye.
Those spores radiated a foul energy fluctuation he knew all too well, nearly identical to Mimic Blight Fungus and Wither Fever!
But what chilled him more was that a bizarre symbiosis existed between the deadly germs and the locusts.
The fungus had not consumed their hosts, but become a part of their bodies. These locusts were not victims of infection.
Lin En’s eyes snapped open, unprecedented weight and coldness in his deep pupils.
The lakeshore, once alive with laughter, was instantly transformed into hell.
Some dropped their weapons and knelt in prayer. Some collapsed in terror, losing all control. More stared hollow-eyed at the oncoming death.
The team was already broken before the battle even began.
At the moment when total despair and apocalypse enveloped all—
Lin En moved.